Peter Clarke, who was renting the house at Ballinacoola, Craanford, was remanded on bail and is due back in the court this Thursday, April 10.

The arresting Garda told the court that upon carrying out a search of the premises, he found that three rooms had been turned into cannabis cultivation units and contained a total of 180 large cannabis plants. He said that the drugs had a total value of approximately €95,000.

Inspector Sean Clince applied to have the defendant remanded in custody, but after some discussion he agreed to bail on condition that the defendant provide a substantial cash sum, an independent surety, an address at which he could be found, and that he sign on at a local Garda station.

The court had to wait for Clarke's independent surety to arrive from Bunclody, as he said: 'I only understood what a surety required when it was explained to me by my solicitor.'

When Clarke's nominated individual finally arrived in court, there was another twist as she herself was the subject of a bench warrant for arrest. She told Judge Haughton that she didn't realise that a bench warrant had been issued and had never received a summons.